Dhruv ALH Updates & Discussions

#Breaking #NewsDhruv ALH Chopper of Indian Army crashed in eastern Ladakh on Tuesday, reported LiveFist. According to initial reports, the crew of the crashed Dhruv ALH Chopper escaped with minor injuries. Further details are awaited.

#Breaking #NewsDhruv ALH Chopper of Indian Army crashed in eastern Ladakh on Tuesday, reported LiveFist. According to initial reports, the crew of the crashed Dhruv ALH Chopper escaped with minor injuries. Further details are awaited.

#Breaking #NewsDhruv ALH Chopper of Indian Army crashed in eastern Ladakh on Tuesday, reported LiveFist. According to initial reports, the crew of the crashed Dhruv ALH Chopper escaped with minor injuries. Further details are awaited.

An Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has given clearance to the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's Rs 6,300 crore chopper manufacturing plant at Bidarehalla Kaval in Tumakuru district of Karnataka.
The factory will consist of manufacturing and assembling divisions supported by a runway and air traffic control, along with a township. Its capacity will be 75 helicopters a year.

"The EAC, after detailed deliberations...recommended the project for grant of environmental clearance and stipulated...specific conditions along with other environmental conditions," the committee said.

"The HAL project...has been proposed to cater to the growing demand of helicopters. The project cost of the proposed plant would be to the tune of about Rs 6,300 crore and about Rs 16 crore is envisaged for environmental pollution control measures," it said.

Since it is being set up on government land, there are no Rehabilitation and Resettlement issues. Initial manpower requirement will be over 100 and it will ultimately reach 4,000 when full production starts, the EAC noted.

The factory will have four major divisions -- Helicopter Division, Engine Division, Composites Division, Transmission Division -- and a ground test centre.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on January 3, 2016, had unveiled plaque of the foundation stone of the plant.

An Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has given clearance to the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's Rs 6,300 crore chopper manufacturing plant at Bidarehalla Kaval in Tumakuru district of Karnataka.
The factory will consist of manufacturing and assembling divisions supported by a runway and air traffic control, along with a township. Its capacity will be 75 helicopters a year.

"The EAC, after detailed deliberations...recommended the project for grant of environmental clearance and stipulated...specific conditions along with other environmental conditions," the committee said.

"The HAL project...has been proposed to cater to the growing demand of helicopters. The project cost of the proposed plant would be to the tune of about Rs 6,300 crore and about Rs 16 crore is envisaged for environmental pollution control measures," it said.

Since it is being set up on government land, there are no Rehabilitation and Resettlement issues. Initial manpower requirement will be over 100 and it will ultimately reach 4,000 when full production starts, the EAC noted.

The factory will have four major divisions -- Helicopter Division, Engine Division, Composites Division, Transmission Division -- and a ground test centre.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on January 3, 2016, had unveiled plaque of the foundation stone of the plant.

Of course a decent proportion of these 200 will be to replace legacy MK.1/2 ALHs and will also be made up of a few additional Rudra orders but still, a HUGE prize up for grabs. 200 may actually be on the low side though as budgets start to increase across the military and CAPFs. The IN and ICG will be particular users to watch, if the ALH now meets their standards then there is a huge potential for future orders, the IN's NUH competition is going to take a LONG time to bear fruit and the ICG is looking to expand its air arm many times over in the near future but has no open tenders and has an aged Chetak fleet.

Of course a decent proportion of these 200 will be to replace legacy MK.1/2 ALHs and will also be made up of a few additional Rudra orders but still, a HUGE prize up for grabs. 200 may actually be on the low side though as budgets start to increase across the military and CAPFs. The IN and ICG will be particular users to watch, if the ALH now meets their standards then there is a huge potential for future orders, the IN's NUH competition is going to take a LONG time to bear fruit and the ICG is looking to expand its air arm many times over in the near future but has no open tenders and has an aged Chetak fleet.

They are working on a improvement for utility variant according to feedback from Army.The work is still "in progress". So the next order won't be big.

A internal program to create a MLU for MK1 and MK2 variants [Mostly increasing safety features and total overhaul , repair and certifications] is also on. Its near completion... so expect a order for half a dozen MLU by IAF/IA soon as a trial run by the end of last quarter , after it a big order for overhaul can be given.

Of course a decent proportion of these 200 will be to replace legacy MK.1/2 ALHs and will also be made up of a few additional Rudra orders but still, a HUGE prize up for grabs. 200 may actually be on the low side though as budgets start to increase across the military and CAPFs. The IN and ICG will be particular users to watch, if the ALH now meets their standards then there is a huge potential for future orders, the IN's NUH competition is going to take a LONG time to bear fruit and the ICG is looking to expand its air arm many times over in the near future but has no open tenders and has an aged Chetak fleet.

BSF too can be a part of this .... Just sad that their airwing is just a mess with no proper planning and support systems - heck one of the reasons that the BSF Dhruv cashed was due to improper crew training including improper cockpit management by both pilots

The IN and ICG will be particular users to watch, if the ALH now meets their standards then there is a huge potential for future orders, the IN's NUH competition is going to take a LONG time to bear fruit and the ICG is looking to expand its air arm many times over in the near future but has no open tenders and has an aged Chetak fleet.

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The problems are...

1) Dhruv still has no automatic rotor folding system, which is the key to use it in numbers on naval vessels, otherwise IN/ICG will only use it in limited numbers at their shore bases

2) IN has already decided to import NUH, rather than to help HAL to make Dhruv more suitable to their requirements

3) The government is keen on their SPM procurement policy, so they will push for these procurements for sure. #Make foreign stuff in India

That leaves only IA, IAF and BSF with the prospect of more Dhruvs.

One has to criticise HAL here too, it is questionable, that they are not able to modify Dhruv for more capability, after all these years since IN rejected them. There are plenty of concepts and ideas all over the world for helicopters, that could be used to improve Dhruv. And even the minimum effort to get a folding system from a foreign source, can't be that difficult or?

1) Dhruv still has no automatic rotor folding system, which is the key to use it in numbers on naval vessels, otherwise IN/ICG will only use it in limited numbers at their shore bases

2) IN has already decided to import NUH, rather than to help HAL to make Dhruv more suitable to their requirements

3) The government is keen on their SPM procurement policy, so they will push for these procurements for sure. #Make foreign stuff in India

That leaves only IA, IAF and BSF with the prospect of more Dhruvs.

One has to criticise HAL here too, it is questionable, that they are not able to modify Dhruv for more capability, after all these years since IN rejected them. There are plenty of concepts and ideas all over the world for helicopters, that could be used to improve Dhruv. And even the minimum effort to get a folding system from a foreign source, can't be that difficult or?

Click to expand...

1) I am ONLY proposing the ALH for the IN and ICG shore based SAR roles (although I think for the ICG it could be their premier NUH as they have no open tender for NUH) and this role alone has a considerable and growing requirement

2) IN does have their NUH requirement that will be met by a foreign product because of this weird obsession with a sub 5t NUH for their smaller vessels, the ALH being closer to 6t puts it out of the running

3) The automatic blade folding system is now developed for the ALH but this isn't the biggest issue for the ALH, it is the weight as stated above.

Foreign NUH isn't coming anytime soon, I don't doubt both the IN and ICG will be placing orders over and above 16 MK.3 ALH each in the next 2-3 years but even if it "just" the IA, IAF and CAPFs ordering the ALH, this is still a huge market and budgets are only growing from here. The IA's renewed focus to increase its "teeth to tail" ratio will have to centre around increasing mobility and the ALH is surely going to play a large role in that.

India’s HAL Rudra armed helicopters have had an unusually low profile since they entered service four years ago. Handed over to the Indian Army with great fanfare in 2013, they’ve melted quietly into operational service, never really showing themselves again since. Which is why, it was a pleasant surprise when a Rudra popped up in photographs of India’s new defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on a visit to the IAF’s Naliya air force base in western India. The minister, accompanied by Army chief General Bipin Rawat was specifically given a 15-minute tour of the Rudra by an Army Aviation Corps. pilot apparently in keeping with her professed focus on modernisation with a focus on indigenous products.

HAL’s Rudra, a weaponised and hunt-focused Mk.4 version of the trusty Dhruv, is still settling in with its primary customer — the Indian Army signed on earlier this month for 18 more, taking the total size of its intended fleet to 78 aircraft. The Army currently 23 Rudras across three operational squadrons, with plans to raise four more squadrons. A further 21 airframes are currently under test at HAL Bengaluru. HAL will produce a total of 34 more Rudras to complete the Army’s current confirmed order book of 78. More from Defence Minister Sitharaman’s tour of a Rudra at AFS Naliya:

While the Army is largely pleased with the Rudra, save some niggles being sorted out with HAL, a serious unresolved flashpoint between the Indian Army and the copter remains its lack of an anti-tank guided missile. India continues to stall on a decision to award a contract for 124 launchers and 1,362 missiles to either MBDA or Rafael Defence for the PARS L3 or Spike ER respectively. The indigenous HELINA ATGM is still at least two years away from proving itself on the Rudra’s launchers.

Official HAL literature on the Rudra details the platform thus:

The Rudra can deploy 48 70mm rockets at standoff ranges of more than 8 km, a turret mounted 20 mm cannon cued to its electro optical payload or the pilot’s helmet mounted cuing system. This provides Rudra immediate and accurate firepower against ground and aerial targets. Pilot only has to look at the target and fire. With an advanced ballistic computer, the guns are very accurate even at extreme angles. Fire and forget anti-tank guided missiles with 7-km range make Rudra an ideal platform for ground support roles. Rudra can carry four air to air missiles. These are infra red guided fire and forget missiles with off axis boresight capability. Pilot can engage the target using the helmet mounted sight or with the electro optical pod, while manoeuvering. State of the art sensors complement this tremendous firepower. Gyrostabilised electro optical sensors work on both visual and IR spectrum. Any type of target will be picked up and tracked at large distances, whether by day or by night. These targets can be handed over to the guided missiles or attacked with rockets and gun. The laser designator can designate the target for any compatible weapon. A comprehensive self protection suite would empower the pilot with essential situational awareness of the elctromagnetic and laser environment.